Peter O'Hanrahan

Peter O'Hanrahan is a leading Enneagram teacher and trainer worldwide. Since 1978 he has presented the Enneagram to a wide variety of groups, including corporations, non-profits, university staffs, small businesses, churches and professional associations. He regularly teaches Enneagram workshops in the US, Europe and China.

He is an associate of Enneagram Worldwide and the Enneagram Professional Training Program with David Daniels, MD and Helen Palmer® and in the past 20 years has helped train and certify more than 800 Enneagram professionals from a variety of the fields in business, psychology, religion, coaching and spiritual counsel.

Peter has presented business applications of the Enneagram at conferences of the American Society for Training and Development, the Organizational Development Network, and the International Enneagram Association. He is the co-author of the Enneagram workplace guide, Transformational Leadership, which is used by companies and university graduate programs. He is a Senior Associate with Ginger Lapid-Bogda's The Enneagram in Business Train the Trainers Program.

With 45 years professional experience as a counselor and trainer, Peter also offers Enneagram coaching and consultation to individuals, couples and groups.

My background as a counselor and body therapist

I began working in community mental health programs in Columbia, MD, in 1971. I was trained as a peer counselor and group leader, led staff trainings for state-funded crisis intervention centers, and became the director of Grassroots Inc. and the PEER self-help program. Moving to California in 1975, I became immersed in holistic and body-based therapies, including certification programs with Ed Jackson MD, Al Bauman, Milton Trager MD, and Lauren Berry RPT.

Since 1975, I have had a practice in holistic counseling, body therapy and support groups in or near Berkeley, CA. Learning the Enneagram has provided an excellent way of understanding character structure and how to best adapt healing and personal growth techniques to each individual.

Learning about the Enneagram

I was first introduced to the Enneagram in 1978 by Helen Palmer, then and now a personal mentor and a leader in the field of transpersonal psychology.

From 1978 to 1986, I studied intensively with Kathleen R. Speeth. PhD, a psychologist and co-developer of the modern Enneagram with Claudio Naranjo, MD

From 1977-1988 I was the director of the Center for Human Growth in Berkeley, CA, with programs in dance, martial arts, massage and self-help psychology. At our center we hosted many years of the first public Enneagram programs. It was an exciting time of immersion in the Enneagram, as we developed the system and learned to apply it to ourselves, our relationships and our clients even before the publication of the early Enneagram books.

Teaching the Enneagram

I began my first Enneagram study group in 1981, then taught panel classes and workshops several times a year. I started using the Enneagram in organizations in 1993, and co-authored the first handbook for business, Transformational Leadership, with Susan G. Forster. Since this time I have taught the Enneagram to a wide variety of organizations: small businesses, computer corporations, government agencies, non-profits and churches.

In 1992, I became a certified teacher in the Narrative Tradition with the Enneagram Professional Training Program (EPTP), founded by Helen Palmer and David Daniels, MD. I became a training associate in the late 1990s and served as program director from 2003-2009. I currently lead the EPTP and other workshops in the US, Europe, China, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, and Singapore.

From 1998-2001, I was a founding director of the Association of Enneagram Teachers in the Narrative Tradition (AET), now EANT which serves as the alumni association for EPTP graduates and teachers around the world.

Senior Associate with TheEnneagramInBusiness.com; graduate of Train the Trainer programs with Ginger Lapid-Bogda and Associates: Bringing Out the Best in Yourself at Work (2006), What Type of Leader Are You (2007).

International Enneagram Association, professional member since 1995, IEA accredited teacher.

Encountering the Enneagram

As a young holistic counselor in Berkeley, CA, I attended the first public Enneagram class in 1978. Like many who hear about the Enneagram, my first impression was "Oh, yet another California system with a strange name and symbol." However, I found the teaching method, hearing from panels of different personality types, a useful way to learn about people. Then when we got to the Type Eight panel I was amazed - here were people talking about what I thought was my personal experience, my way of seeing things! How did they know?

The Enneagram quickly became both a path of deep personal growth and a powerful tool for my professional practice. Over the years it has proved its value over and over again. I have used many important concepts and methods in my teaching and training work, yet in my experience there is no better system available for understanding people and their relationships than the Enneagram. After 35 years, I still find this system to be the most effective method available to promote self awareness, reduce conflict, build bridges and appreciate human diversity.

Along with my wife Pat, also an Enneagram teacher, I have found it to be of enormous help in parenting and raising our three kids.

Now as I travel around the world, it's an honor to have the opportunity to teach and meet so many people in different countries who are also on the path of opening their hearts and practicing self awareness with their families, companies, and religious communities. I teach many different kinds of Enneagram workshops, but it's still the most fun being with people who are new to the Enneagram and seeing their faces light up as they first recognize their personality type.